U.S. patent number 10,555,554 [Application Number 14/777,733] was granted by the patent office on 2020-02-11 for simulated cigarette.
This patent grant is currently assigned to KIND CONSUMER LIMITED. The grantee listed for this patent is Kind Consumer Limited. Invention is credited to Rene Mauricio Gonzalez Campos, Ritika Gupta, Alex Hearn, Khine Zaw Nyein.
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United States Patent |
10,555,554 |
Hearn , et al. |
February 11, 2020 |
Simulated cigarette
Abstract
A simulated cigarette having a generally cylindrical cigarette
like housing with a main axis, the housing containing a reservoir
of a pressurised inhalable composition. The reservoir has a
reservoir outlet at one end which is selectively closed by an
outlet valve. The simulated cigarette further comprises a tube with
a through bore extending along a substantial portion of the
reservoir from the vicinity of the reservoir outlet such that
composition flows into a tube bore inlet and along the tube bore to
the reservoir outlet. The tube inlet end is retained such that the
axis passes through the inlet end and so that the tube bore inlet
is positioned in the axial sense in the central 50% of the volume
of the reservoir.
Inventors: |
Hearn; Alex (London,
GB), Gupta; Ritika (London, GB), Gonzalez
Campos; Rene Mauricio (London, GB), Nyein; Khine
Zaw (Middlesex, GB) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kind Consumer Limited |
London |
N/A |
GB |
|
|
Assignee: |
KIND CONSUMER LIMITED (London,
GB)
|
Family
ID: |
48326670 |
Appl.
No.: |
14/777,733 |
Filed: |
March 25, 2014 |
PCT
Filed: |
March 25, 2014 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/GB2014/050939 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
September 16, 2015 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2014/155093 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
October 02, 2014 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20160135500 A1 |
May 19, 2016 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2013 [GB] |
|
|
1305494.5 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
83/32 (20130101); A61M 15/0091 (20130101); A24F
42/20 (20200101); A61M 15/06 (20130101); A24F
47/002 (20130101); B65D 83/42 (20130101); B65D
83/36 (20130101); A61M 2209/045 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A24F
47/00 (20060101); A61M 15/00 (20060101); B65D
83/42 (20060101); A61M 15/06 (20060101); B65D
83/32 (20060101); B65D 83/36 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2307417 |
|
Oct 1974 |
|
DE |
|
4030257 |
|
Apr 1992 |
|
DE |
|
0824927 |
|
Feb 1998 |
|
EP |
|
2614732 |
|
Jul 2013 |
|
EP |
|
2011107737 |
|
Sep 2011 |
|
WO |
|
2012129787 |
|
Oct 2012 |
|
WO |
|
2014033438 |
|
Mar 2014 |
|
WO |
|
Other References
Machine translation of DE2307417. cited by examiner .
Machine translation of DE4030257. cited by examiner .
International Search Report and Written Opinion dated Jul. 7, 2014
for Application No. PCT/GB2014/050939. cited by applicant .
United Kingdom Search Report dated Sep. 19, 2013 for Application
No. GB1305494.5. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Felton; Michael J
Assistant Examiner: Will; Katherine A
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Patterson + Sheridan, LLP
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A simulated cigarette having a generally cylinder-shaped
cylindrical cigarette like housing with a main axis corresponding
to a cylindrical axis of the cylinder shape, the housing containing
a reservoir of a pressurized pressurised inhalable composition
extending along a substantial portion of the housing, the reservoir
having a reservoir outlet at one end which is selectively closed by
an outlet valve, the outlet valve being operable to allow the
composition to flow from the reservoir outlet to an inhalation
outlet at the outlet end of the device; wherein the simulated
cigarette further comprises a tube with a through bore extending
along a substantial portion of the reservoir from the vicinity of
the reservoir outlet such that composition flows into a tube bore
inlet and along the tube bore to the reservoir outlet, a tube inlet
end being retained such that the main axis passes through the inlet
end and so that the tube bore inlet is positioned in the axial
sense in the central 50% of the volume of the reservoir.
2. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tube
bore inlet is positioned in the central 30% and preferably the
central 20% of the volume of the reservoir.
3. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tube
bore inlet is in the half of the volume furthest from the
outlet.
4. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the
reservoir is refillable and has a refill valve at a refill end
opposite to the outlet end.
5. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outlet
valve is a breath operated valve.
6. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 5, wherein the outlet
valve is biased closed by a resilient member and is supported by a
flexible diaphragm, and an air flow path is provided through the
cigarette such that suction on the outlet end causes the air flow
to create a pressure on the diaphragm sufficient to lift the outlet
valve against the action of the resilient member and open the
outlet valve.
7. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
inhalable composition comprises nicotine and a propellant.
8. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tube
extends for at least 60% of the length of the cigarette.
9. A simulated cigarette as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
internal diameter of the bore is less than 1 mm.
10. A simulated cigarette having a generally cylinder-shaped
cylindrical cigarette like housing with a main axis corresponding
to a cylindrical axis of the cylinder shape, the housing containing
a reservoir of a pressurized pressurised inhalable composition
extending along a substantial portion of the housing, the reservoir
having a reservoir outlet at one end which is selectively closed by
an outlet valve, the outlet valve being operable to allow the
composition to flow from the reservoir outlet to an inhalation
outlet at the outlet end of the device; wherein the simulated
cigarette further comprises a tube with a through bore extending
along a substantial portion of the reservoir from the vicinity of
the reservoir outlet such that composition flows into a tube bore
inlet and along the tube bore to the reservoir outlet, a tube inlet
end being retained such that the axis passes through the inlet end
and so that the tube bore inlet is positioned in the axial sense in
the central 50% of the volume of the reservoir, and wherein the
tube is a flexible tube and a support is provided to retain the
inlet end in position.
Description
The present invention relates to a simulated cigarette having a
generally cylindrical cigarette like housing with a main axis, the
housing containing a reservoir of a pressurised inhalable
composition extending along a substantial portion of the housing,
the reservoir having a reservoir outlet at one end which is
selectively closed by an outlet valve, the outlet valve being
operable to allow the composition to flow from the reservoir outlet
to an inhalation outlet at the outlet end of the device. Such a
simulated cigarette will subsequently be referred to as "of the
kind described".
A simulated cigarette of the kind described is disclosed in
WO2011/107737. This document requires a wick filling a substantial
portion of the reservoir in order to ensure that adequate
composition is provided to the reservoir outlet when the outlet
valve is open.
It has been found, however, that the wick effectively strips
nicotine out of the composition such that it provides an
inconsistence dosage.
Another cigarette of the kind described is disclosed in DE4030257.
One example in this document discloses a tube extending for a short
distance from the outlet end of the reservoir. The tube is flexible
and has a weight at its inlet end such that it is weighted towards
the bottom face of the reservoir, whatever its orientation. Such an
arrangement is designed to allow as much composition as possible to
be inhaled from the reservoir. However, a problem with this design
is that the amount of composition that is available for the user
will depend upon the orientation of the cigarette. If the cigarette
is used in a horizontal configuration, most of the composition can
be inhaled. However, the most common way of inhaling from a
cigarette is in a "tip-down" configuration in which the inhaling
end of the cigarette is above the opposite end. In such an
orientation, somewhere around half of the composition cannot be
inhaled. For each use of the cigarette there will therefore be a
large variation in the amount of composition inhaled by the user,
depending on the orientation. High variation in dose is not
desirable from a regulatory point of view, and for the user as they
do not have a good idea of the quantity of nicotine that they have
inhaled.
According to the present invention, a simulated cigarette of the
kind described, comprises a tube with a through bore extending
along a substantial portion of the reservoir from the vicinity of
the reservoir outlet such that composition flows into a tube bore
inlet and along the tube bore to the reservoir outlet, a tube inlet
end being retained such that the axis passes through the inlet end
and so that the tube bore inlet is positioned in the axial sense in
the central 50% of the volume of the reservoir.
The volume of the reservoir is the free space inside the reservoir,
namely the total volume that can be occupied by the composition.
This volume excludes any internal features within the reservoir
such as the tube wall. It does, however, include the volume of the
tube bore. This volume can either be determined by calculating the
volume of the various components (i.e. the internal volume of the
reservoir housing minus the volume of any internal components), or
can be determined by fully filling the reservoir with a liquid and
measuring the volume of liquid required to do this (e.g. by
determining the mass increase). By filling the reservoir with 50%
of this volume and orientating the simulated cigarette with its
axis vertical, the mid-point of the volume can be determined. This
can be repeated with a volume of liquid which is 25% greater and
25% less respectively than the 50% volume referred to above. These
two levels determine the central 50% of the volume of the reservoir
as defined above. Alternatively, these positions can be calculated
based on the volumes of the components.
By providing the tube bore inlet radially towards the centre of the
reservoir, in a central portion of the volume in the axial sense,
the tube bore inlet is in a position in which it is in the vicinity
of the centroid of a body of liquid filling the reservoir such
that, whatever the orientation of the cigarette, approximately 50%
of the liquid can be dispensed.
Thus, it can be seen that the approach taken is different from that
of DE4030257 in that the aim is to maximise the uniformity of the
dosing, not to maximise the total amount of the dosing. This is
achieved by retaining the inlet end of the tube in a central region
of the reservoir, rather than having a flexible tube which is
always biased towards the lowermost position.
Preferably, the tube bore inlet is positioned in the central 30%
and more preferably 20% of the volume of the reservoir as this
reduces variation still further.
While the tube bore inlet is in the central region of the reservoir
as set out above, preferably, it is in the half of the volume
furthest from the outlet. The 50%, 30% and 20% limits above allow
the inlet to be 25%, 15% and 10% respectively from the centre of
the reservoir. Given the desire to have the inlet towards the end
opposite to the outlet end, the preferred range may be lower
towards the outlet than the opposite end. It may, for example, be
preferred to have the inlet with 15% of the centre of the volume
towards the outlet end and 25% of the volume towards the opposite
end. This allows a greater volume to be inhaled in the more common
"tip-down" configuration, but is still sufficiently close to the
centre that undue variation of the dosage is avoided.
The tube inlet may be retained in place by the tube being rigid
enough that it can support itself with the tube bore inlet in the
defined position. However, preferably, the tube is a flexible tube
and a support is provided to retain the inlet end in position.
The support preferably has an outer diameter which can form an
interference fit with an inner wall of the reservoir. The support
preferably has a hollow conical end portion facing the inlet end of
the tube to guide the inlet end into position. This allows for a
straight forward assembly process as the tube can be pushed into
the reservoir so that it engages with the inner wall of the
reservoir adjacent to the reservoir outlet or the outlet valve
itself. The support can then be fitted into place such that the
conical end portion picks up the inlet end and guides it towards
the central region.
The simulated cigarette may be a single use device. However,
preferably, the reservoir is refillable and has a refill valve at a
refill end opposite to the outlet end. In this case, the tube
support is preferably integrated with a refill valve housing. This
helps to reduce the number of components in the simulated
cigarette.
The outlet valve may be manually operated, but is preferably a
breath operated valve. The outlet valve is preferably biased closed
by a resilient member and is supported by a flexible diaphragm, and
an air flow path is provided through the cigarette such that
suction on the outlet end causes the air flow to create a pressure
on the diaphragm sufficient to lift the outlet valve against the
action of the resilient member and open the outlet valve.
The inhalable composition preferably comprises nicotine and a
propellant.
The tube is preferably relatively long and extends for at least 60%
of the length of the cigarette. The bore is preferably less than 1
mm. Tubes with at least a portion of different internal diameters
can be used in order to vary the dosage that the cigarette is able
to dispense. Previously, the dosage was varied by varying the size
of an outlet orifice downstream of the outlet valve, but this also
changes the particle size. By using the bore to control the dosage,
this can be done without compromising the particle size.
An example of a simulated cigarette in accordance with the present
invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is an axial cross section through the simulated
cigarette;
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 in a "tip-down"
configuration;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 in a "tip-up"
configuration;
FIG. 4 is an axial cross section showing the right hand portion of
FIG. 1 in greater detail; and
FIG. 5 is an end view of the tube support.
The basic arrangement of the simulated cigarette is as described in
WO2011/107737. Thus, the simulated cigarette has a generally
cylindrical shape and is approximately the size of a cigarette. It
has a housing 1 with an outlet end 2 and a refill end 3 with a
reservoir 4 occupying the majority of the internal space. At the
outlet end 2 is an outlet valve 5 with a valve element 6 in the
form of a tooth which pinches a resilient tube 7 in order to close
the tube. The outlet valve 5 further comprises a vane which
cooperates with a diaphragm 8 to open the valve element 6 against
the action of a spring 9 when a user sucks on the outlet end 2 as
described in WO2011/107737 and in greater detail in WO
2014/033438.
At the opposite end of the reservoir 4 is the refill valve element
10 which is essentially a check valve which is openable against the
action of a second spring 11. This is the subject of co-pending
application 1305486.1. The second spring 11 and refill valve
element 10 are retained in a cage 12 which has a number of openings
13 such that the space within the cage 13 forms part of the
reservoir 4.
Also within the reservoir 4 is a flexible tube 20 with an internal
bore 21. The bore 21 has an outlet 22 located adjacent to the end
of the resilient tube 7 and can be placed against or is sealed to
the wall 23 of the reservoir 23 in the vicinity of the outlet end
so that the composition can only reach the outlet valve 5 via the
bore 21. As is apparent from the drawings, it can be either the
side wall or the end wall of the tube 20 that seal with the wall 23
if the reservoir or the end of the tube 7, but it is preferably
both. It will also be apparent from the drawings that the right
hand side of the resilient tube 7 between the valve element 6 and
the tube 20 is also a part of the reservoir.
At the inlet end 25 of the tube 20, the bore 21 has an inlet 26
which is supported by a support 30 so that the inlet end 25, and
preferably the inlet 26 of the bore 21 is on the main axis X of the
housing 1 as shown in FIG. 4.
The support 30 abuts against the valve cage 12 at the end of the
support 30 closest to the refill end 3. The support 30 and valve
cage 12 may be made as a single component. At the opposite end, the
support 30 has a conical face 31 facing towards the outlet end 2.
The outer diameter 32 of this end has a diameter corresponding to
the internal diameter 33 of the reservoir 4 at this point so that
the support 30 is an interference fit within the reservoir 4. Four
openings 34 as shown in FIG. 5 allow the liquid in the reservoir to
freely pass the support 30 to gain access to the inlet 26.
To assemble the cigarette, the tube 20 is inserted into the
reservoir 4 until it reaches the position show in FIG. 1 in which
the outlet 22 seals with the wall 23. The support 30 is then
inserted from the same end and the conical face 31 picks up the
inlet end 25 and guides it into a central region as shown in the
drawings. The conical region 31 extends into a cylindrical region
35 which maintains the inlet end 25 of the tube 20 in the central
region. The end of the tube may be tightly held in this position,
or may be free to move a small amount which is immaterial to its
ability to function. Even if it is tightly held, the openings 34
allow liquid in the reservoir to reach the inlet 26 of the bore
21.
It will be appreciated from the drawings and from the above
explanation that the shape of the reservoir 4 is complex. The right
hand portion has a generally cylindrical configuration occupying
the majority of the diameter of the device while the left hand
portion of the reservoir may just be the internal bore 21 of the
tube, or there may be a portion of the reservoir on either side of
this tube. Further, in the right hand portion, the volume of the
reservoir is reduced by the inlet end portion of the tube 20, the
support 30, the valve cage 12, the second spring 11 and the portion
of the refill valve element 10 which is within the reservoir. Thus,
while the volume of the reservoir 4 can be determined by measuring
these components, it may be simpler to determine this
experimentally.
The operation of the device will now be described with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3.
When a user sucks on the outlet end 2, the outlet valve 5 opens as
previously described. Provided that the inlet 26 of the bore 21 is
below the level L of the liquid in the reservoir, the liquid will
travel along the bore 21 and will be atomised downstream of the
outlet valve element 6 to create a plume for inhalation. FIGS. 1 to
3 show the centroid C of a body of liquid filling the reservoir 4.
The inlet 26 of the bore 21 is in the vicinity of the centroid. In
this specific example shown in FIG. 1, it is displaced by 1.3 mm
from the centroid C towards the refill end 3. In the horizontal
orientation shown in FIG. 1, all of the liquid above the level L
which represents approximately 50% of the total liquid in the
reservoir can be inhaled from the cigarette. When the cigarette is
in the tip-down configuration shown in FIG. 2, as the inlet 26 is
displaced from the centroid C as described above, slightly more
liquid is available than it is in FIG. 1. Conversely, in the tip-up
configuration, slightly less liquid is available for inhalation. In
a different arrangement, the inlet 26 is at the centroid C, so that
there is essentially no variation in dispensing between the three
positions. The current preference is for a slight displacement of
the inlet 26 towards the refill end from the centroid C as shown as
this causes slightly more liquid to be dispensed in the more common
tip-down orientation.
Once the cigarette reaches the liquid level position L shown in
FIGS. 1 to 3 with the reservoir approximately half full, no further
liquid can be inhaled and the cigarette is then refilled via the
refill valve 10.
* * * * *